Welcome to sunny Australia, here's your umbrella
by wild-filly
Summary: Yugi, Ryou, Marik and assorted Yamis and cohorts are spending the summer holidays in Perth, Western Australia - will they survive the many wonders on offer or fall victim to the equal amount of perils?
1. Chapter 1

Wild-filly: ^_^ hello and welcome to my first Yu-Gi-Oh! fic  
  
Kaioshin: with any luck it will also be her last  
  
Wild-filly: *glares* ignoring that treacherous muse, I hope you enjoy this fic and tell me what you think of it!  
  
Kaioshin: -_- please no...  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own, never have, never will - however may one day steal..  
  
***  
  
Summer holidays had finally arrived, and Mokuba Kaiba planned to make these holidays truly worthwhile. Having started doing geography in his year five class, he was taken with the idea of visiting Australia, but was certain that his brother would find some reason not to go, or at least not enjoy it. However... if Mokuba could get a whole group of people to come with them, maybe it would be more interesting?  
  
Worth a try at any rate.  
  
The entire trip would be funded more or less by Seto Kaiba, although Kaiba himself was unaware of this small fact. It would be an important lesson for the CEO. Never leave the combination to a locked vault containing your credit cards inside another locked box when your younger brother is bored and curious of the art of lock-picking.  
  
Mokuba extended the invitation of a holiday to the first group of people who came to mind; namely to his brother and anyone who would definitely annoy him.  
  
In the end, Yugi, Ryou, Joey, Tea, Tristan and Marik agreed to come. Mokuba provided their airfares and told Seto that the others would pay for their flights, as long as he could take care of all other expenses. Kaiba refused outright, naturally, however Mokuba had not only been studying the art of lock-picking, but was a master at getting his own way by means of huge, tear-filled eyes. After twenty minutes of heartbreaking sobs, Seto gave in and allowed his delighted younger brother to call whatever "friends" he wanted and leave him in peace whilst he took care of the company's stocks.  
  
Well.... the best of us make mistakes, don't we? It would appear that it also applies to the worst.  
  
Either way, Seto was met with a slight surprise at the airport.  
  
*  
  
It was four in the morning. Not even the summer sun had risen yet. However, Yugi was rudely awakened by the persistent screeching of the accursed alarm clock on his bedside cabinet.  
  
Actually, Yami was the one awakened - Yugi had already developed an immunity to alarm clocks, the pharaoh however, thought they were under attack. From the depths of his Soul Room, Yami was startled by a sudden high-pitched shrieking. What on earth was happening?!  
  
Taking control, Yami leapt out of bed, blankets following and also managing to wrap around his knees. Instead of gracefully landing feet-first with one hand already reaching for his duelling deck, Yami smacked face-first onto the plush carpet, accidentally kicking the cabinet and causing the offensive clock to leap off the table and onto his skull.  
  
Cross-eyed and muttering something about summoning the dark magician in attack mode, Yami blearily examined the demonic clock as the source of the noise and with scientific precision, smashed it to pieces against the floor. A dazed smile on his face, Yami returned to his Soul Room to moan about his headache while his hikari took care of the shattered remains of the evil, metal monster.  
  
Yugi awoke to a steady pounding on one side of his head and cursing coming from the other. Groaning and attempting to ignore the King of Games, Yugi picked himself off the floor and surveyed what was left of the clock.  
  
'Didn't I tell you what an alarm clock was, Yami?'  
  
'No'  
  
'I'm sure I did at some point'  
  
'No?'  
  
'Well, they're harmless ok? I set this one so I'd wake up in time for the taxi to get to the airport.'  
  
'What's an airport?'  
  
'We've been through this as well, Yami'  
  
'No?'  
  
Yugi chose to end this conversation and trooped downstairs, dug some cereal of indeterminate age out of the cupboard and put the kettle to boil. After discovering that the cereal had not only been created during the last Ice Age, but was also soggy, Yugi decided to leave breakfast to the aeroplane staff to provide. Several cups of strong black coffee later, he was suddenly feeling much more alive and even Yami had stopped complaining.  
  
By the time the taxi had arrived, Yugi's eyes appeared even larger than normal and the driver surveyed him carefully as the duellist attempted to fit the suitcase into the boot.  
  
Clearing his throat, the driver commented, 'do you want me to get that for you?'  
  
Yugi grinned, staring at a point some distance over the man's shoulder, 'no, I'm fine'.  
  
The driver hesitated, 'sir... most people would open the boot first'  
  
Yugi glanced back at the suitcase, briefly re-visiting sanity and noting that he had in fact, left a considerable dent in the back of the taxi, 'oh... thanks'.  
  
*  
  
The taxi stopped briefly several times, to pick up Ryou and Marik. Joey had announced that he did in fact have a driver's licence, however Tristan and Tea were the only ones unfortunate enough not to think of an excuse not to take a lift with him fast enough.  
  
Ryou seemed to be even quieter than usual, however Yugi was not the only one with a bruise on his head. Yami Bakura probably responded much the same way as Yami. Marik looked more than slightly disgusted to be sharing a cab with the pharaoh and tomb robber, although was equally obviously falling asleep.  
  
Yami had gone silent for some time in the Soul Room, but suddenly perked up  
  
'Yugi?'  
  
'Yes?  
  
'Are we there yet?'  
  
'No'  
  
'Are we there yet?  
  
'No'  
  
'Are we there yet?  
  
'NO!!! Do you even know where we're going?!'  
  
'No...'  
  
'We're going to Australia.'  
  
'Australia? Why not Egypt?'  
  
'Don't worry, there're deserts there as well'  
  
'Oh very funny'  
  
'Camels too'  
  
Yami cut off his mental link and proceeded to sulk. Ryou and Yami Bakura were having a similar discussion.  
  
'Spirit? You still haven't told me where you put our passport'  
  
'.....'  
  
'Spirit'  
  
'....mumblemumbleburntitmumblemumble'  
  
'WHAT?!'  
  
'.....'  
  
'YOU BURNT MY PASSPORT?!'  
  
'....... yes'  
  
'WHY?'  
  
'.... paper burns, and I had to make a fire'  
  
'why did you need to make a fire?'  
  
'burning evidence'  
  
'what kind of evidence?'  
  
'incriminating'  
  
'what did you do now?'  
  
'......'  
  
'I'm waiting....'  
  
'.... mumblemumblemumblerecklessdrivingfinemumble'  
  
'RECKLESS DRIVING?! YOU CAN'T EVEN DRIVE!'  
  
'.... apparently so'  
  
'you could have got arrested!'  
  
'could have?'  
  
'.....'  
  
'I needed to burn the photos and papers they took'  
  
'... I'm going to kill you, I really am'  
  
' Two problems. One, I'm already dead. Two, I'M the psychopath, remember?!'  
  
It was probably just as well that they arrived at the airport right then, otherwise things could have gotten (if possible) worse.  
  
Marik scrambled out of the cab as fast as possible, eager to escape paying as well as being in the same vicinity as the other two. Throwing open the boot, the cab driver heaved out their luggage and abandoned the trio, shaking his head about the trends kids follow today. Thanks to Yugi's hair, he could barely see out of the rear-view mirror.  
  
Mokuba bolted over to join them, indecently awake and cheerful for this uncivilised hour. Yugi and Ryou smiled and conversed animatedly with the younger Kaiba brother while Marik eyed a parked motorcycle with interest and Seto pretended to be part of a different group.  
  
Finally Joey's wreck of a car turned up, bumper in tow and Tea and Tristan looking more than slightly nauseous in the back. After seven failed attempts at parking, the missing members of the group joined them. Joey's face was more than a little embarrassed.  
  
'Sorry we're late, we got stuck in traffic'  
  
A vein twitched on Tea's forehead.  
  
'So I had us take a short cut'  
  
The vein bulged on Tea's forehead.  
  
'And then we got a little sidetracked....'  
  
Tea exploded, 'YOU RAN THREE RED LIGHTS, PLOWED THROUGH A FENCE LINE, NEARLY RAN OVER AN OLD LADY IN A WHEELCHAIR AND THEN STOPPED AT A DRIVE THROUGH!!!!'  
  
Tristan unblocked his ears, 'oh yeah, and forgot to bring his suitcase so we had to double back'.  
  
Joey had the decency to look slightly embarrassed. Unable to take any more, Kaiba lead the way into the airport and they breezed through customs. It's amazing how short passport queues are when you've donated a sizeable sum to the airport's construction, isn't it?  
  
*  
  
The sun was creeping over the horizon as the Boeing 737 roared down the runway and slid into the air. Yugi was determined not to let Yami take over, all though the spirit was exceptionally keen to witness "take-off" . The last thing he needed was for Yami to decide that he didn't like aeroplanes. Once the seatbelt sign went off, he'd let Yami take control, however as soon as it goes back on, Yami, along with all electrical equipment would be put away.  
  
Finally the plane drew level and the sign flickered off. Yami blinked, staring at the PTV on the seat in front of him. 'What is this?'  
  
Marik was severely annoyed. First security had tried to confiscate the Millennium Rod. Then he got told off for trying to send them to the Shadow Realm. Then the stupid spirit of the Millennium Ring stole his passport. And then, just to top it off nicely, he was stationed next to an old relic who was about to electrocute himself on the miniature television in front of him. Perfect. He'd almost rather be working at the museum with Ishizu yelling at him to clean his room.  
  
Yami was successful in shattering the screen of the television, causing the flight attendant to come hurrying over in a panic.  
  
'Sir, are you alright?' came the anxious voice. People would sue for just about anything these days.  
  
Yami blinked haughtily and brushed shards of glass from his lap, 'yes, I am fine thank you very much. May I please have a different chair?'  
  
Marik sighed in relief, however was sadly disappointed.  
  
'I'm sorry sir, we have no spare seats'.  
  
Brilliant. Not only was he stuck next to possibly the most arrogant person he'd ever met besides himself, but would have to avoid any glass shards that escaped the cleaning. Worse still, Yami may try to start a conversation.  
  
Yami however, decided that the aeroplane was quite simply a noisy, boring experience and being a naturally benevolent pharaoh, returned control to Yugi so he may enjoy the flight. Yugi was most disgruntled at being kicked out of his Soul Room. While both Yugi and Yami could be in their Soul Rooms at the same time, it tended to have a negative affect on the people nearby. Something about Yugi appearing to literally be dead on his feet.  
  
Much to the hikari's annoyance, his oh-so-beloved darker counterpart had somehow contrived to break the TV. Wonderful. Delving through his bag, Yugi dug out a magazine and proceeded to ignore Marik who was industriously making an army of paper aeroplanes and launching them towards where Ryou and Mokuba were sitting.  
  
Yami Bakura was fascinated, staring out the window at the clouds and ocean far below them. Eyeing the wing of the plane, he was slightly disturbed by the amount it appeared to be waving up and down. Was it supposed to do that? After all, these devices hadn't existed in ancient Egypt and aviation was hardly a useful topic for a grave robber to study.  
  
Not only was this factor laden on his concern, there was also the issue of the younger Kaiba brat. The kid had brought a massive green rucksack with him and it appeared to contain packets and packets of a white substance. Yami Bakura reasoned that it probably wasn't incredibly harmful, since Customs hadn't tried to confiscate it as well. Marik wasn't the only one who had nearly been relieved of their Millennium item.  
  
Regardless of how dangerous the substance wasn't; it seemed to be having a strange affect on the child. Yami Bakura was no expert on children, having been inhabiting a piece of jewellery for the past five thousand years, but even he could tell that this one was becoming more and more hyperactive. The spirit pondered about informing the taller Kaiba brat of his sibling's apparent personality swing.  
  
Casting a wary eye towards Mokuba, Yami Bakura was moderately interested to note that the kid's eyes had become considerably wider and glazed. Not only that, but his limbs were twitching. The tomb robber didn't like this at all. It was like watching a time bomb ticking down to zero (he'd taken out a subscription to a variety of magazines with Ryou's consent in order to catch up on new technology. What he failed to mention, was exactly what TYPE of technology he was interested in).  
  
Being the dauntless thief that Yami Bakura is, he naturally chickened out and returned control to Ryou.  
  
Ryou blinked dreamily, returning to consciousness after a pleasant sleep in his Soul Room. He then felt a persistent tapping on his elbow. Attempting to properly focus his eyes, Ryou looked down to see Mokuba with a wide grin on his face. Then he saw the bag of sugar. There was a paper aeroplane sticking out of what was left of the white powder.  
  
'heyryouyou'rebacktonormaldoyouwanttoplayeyespywithmeordoyouwantohelpmemakem orepaperareoplanestothrowatmarikilikesugeribroughtlotsofsugarsetotoldmenotto bringanysopleasedon'ttellhimokdoyouwantsomesugar?!'  
  
Ryou face-faulted and debated the chances of still remaining sane come the end of the flight.  
  
*  
  
The non-stop flight from Japan to Perth took approximately nine hours, leaving a collection of very tired, very conspicuous people clustered around baggage re-claim.  
  
Seto was extremely annoyed. His laptop computer had crashed one hour into the flight, leaving him with no entertainment other than attempting to pull Mokuba off the ceiling. Mokuba's sugar rush had slightly worn off to the point that he was sitting on the conveyor belt, leaping off in time to avoid vanishing behind the plastic curtains. The security guards had given up trying to stop him. A wad of cash waved in front of them by the younger Kaiba who had hacked his older brother's bank account also helped.  
  
Joey and Tristan were complaining loudly. As far as Yugi could tell from their otherwise incomprehensible ranting, they had not found the meals satisfactory. In fact, they hadn't even considered them to be meals. Considering what those two would eat, Yugi was quite impressed.  
  
Tea was the only one still awake enough to recognise their bags, and was instantly awarded the joyous task of recovering their bags and placing them on the trolley. She was not exactly amused by this prize. There was also the fact that her hair had not appreciated being in the plane and was now so statically charged that it stuck out in manner startlingly similar to Yugi's.  
  
Ryou and Marik were arguing. Actually, Yami Bakura and Marik were arguing. They had been doing this for the last four hours, when one of Marik's paper planes stabbed the tomb robber in the eye. Once the option of a Shadow Game was firmly stamped out, (Literally. Tea had had enough of Shadow Games and neither Yami Bakura nor Marik had the courage to say otherwise) they had locked into a battle of wits. The current score appeared to be a stalemate, however as it was a battle of wits, they were both already fighting a losing battle.  
  
'AT LEAST I DIDN'T SPEND MY ENTIRE LIFE STUMBLING MUSTY OLD TOMBS BECAUSE I HAD NOTHING BETTER TO DO!'  
  
'YOU MORON! YOU'RE A BLOODY TOMBKEEPER!'  
  
'I HAD NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER; YOU DID!'  
  
'I HAPPEN TO BE THE BEST THEIF IN EGYPT!'  
  
'IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T REALISED, THAT WAS IN ANCIENT TIMES! YOU'RE HISTORY! A FOSSIL! I COULD HAVE ISHIZU PUT YOU IN THE MUSEUM AS AN EXHIBIT!'  
  
'YOU'RE JUST JEALOUS OF MY SENIORITY AND THEREFORE, SUPERIOR INTELLECT, SKILL AND WISDOM, HAH!'  
  
It had been continuing in this annoying fashion for some time now, and everyone's ears had constructed a barrier in order to zone the offensive racket out.  
  
At last the bags were collected, their passports stamped (after being returned to their rightful owners and appropriate officers brainwashed for those without due to useless yamis) and in no time at all, they were all waiting for another taxi.  
  
Seto checked his watch irritably, 'they're late... They should have been here before we arrived'.  
  
Mokuba swayed happily, the sugar still working its way through the bloodstream, 'can I sit on the roof?'  
  
'Whatever'  
  
"yay!'  
  
'Hang on, no! I didn't mean that!'  
  
Mokuba bounded towards the considerably bigger taxi that had just pulled up at the kerb, trying fruitlessly to jump onto the roof.  
  
The driver glared at the small child attempting to use his van as a climbing frame, 'it's in the cab or on the pavement, your choice'.  
  
Even in the sugar-enhanced daze, Mokuba was able to detect the thinly veiled threat and hopped inside, followed by Yugi, Ryou, Joey, Tristan and Tea. Seto leapt into the passenger seat, 'Observation Rise hotel'.  
  
Just as the taxi-van started up, Mokuba called out from where he was more than slightly crushed between the van door and Yugi's bag, 'where's Marik?'  
  
There was an outbreak of maniacal laughter. From the roof. The cab driver shook his head in disgust and swerved the van hard. The maniacal laughter was abruptly cut off and replaced with a loud thump and even louder cursing as Marik fell off and landed in the empty baggage trolley.  
  
Regaining what little remained of his dignity, Marik winced as he unearthed the Millennium Rod as the thing that had broken his fall and possibly his spine. Hobbling over to the cab, he threw open the door and took his seat as quietly as possible, trying not to catch anyone's eye. Muffled snickering was clearly audible.  
  
The cab driver sighed mentally. Observation Rise? Why not a psychiatric ward...  
  
***  
  
wild-filly: first chapter done! Some rather interesting events planned in the form of tourist attractions, but please review and tell me what you think! 


	2. Chapter 2

Wild-filly: Many thanks to everyone who reviewed ^_______^ and just to clear up any confusion (which has inevitably cropped up -_-), I actually know Prantis/Darkness Eternal and MoonWraith in real life. An amusing(?) game we have is one where we correct one another's grammar and spelling - please no one stress too much about their commentary as I will kill them in my free time for critical remarks, ok? ^_^  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own, so please don't sue.... I haven't any money to my name anyway -_-;;  
  
***  
  
Ryou finally managed to kick his Yami back into the Millennium Ring and was currently enjoying the scenery. It was certainly different from that of Japan; even by the airport there was the characteristic red dirt and scrubby bushland featured on Australian tourist brochures everywhere. There was also a distinct lack of kangaroos. Probably just as well - neither of the Yamis had even heard of a kangaroo, much less seen one. It would probably be classified as a dangerous being; along with alarm clocks, hairdryers and the toaster.  
  
Tea was trying gamely to wrestle her hair into submission, however it seemed equally determined to retain its new, spikier style. Chucking her hairbrush away in frustration, she turned to Yugi whilst Marik gave a yelp as the brush smacked into the side of his head.  
  
'Yugi, can I borrow some hairspray?'  
  
'What?! I don't have any hairspray!'  
  
'Hair gel?'  
  
'Why would I need that stuff?'  
  
'You mean you don't need anything to make your hair look like that?!'  
  
'No.... I'm not entirely sure why'  
  
'What on earth could have caused that to happen? Excessive radiation, perhaps?!'  
  
'Dunno... I've never really thought about it. It's probably my Yami's fault, since I am more or less his reincarnation - perhaps he was messing around with radiation when he was pharaoh'.  
  
'Yugi, that was in ancient times; they hadn't invented radiation!'  
  
'Trust me - he would have found radiation. He's that kind of person'.  
  
From where he was attempting to batter down one of the sealed doors in his cryptic Soul Room, Yami heard this fragment of the conversation and was not amused. The King of Games sank onto the brick floor, closed his eyes and began to meditate on how to take revenge on his hikari. Then his eyes fluttered open; this is ridiculous.  
  
Every time he came out of the Puzzle he seemed to embarrass, humiliate and generally annoy Yugi without even trying. Thinking about how to purposely do this would probably not irritate him at all.  
  
Yami grinned into the darkness of the twisting stairways and barricaded doors that was his mind; Yugi was going to regret making such an accurate, if hurtful inference.  
  
Yami Bakura was equally irritated. Ryou's interference with his argument had left Marik with the last comment - meaning that Marik had automatically won. The Spirit of the Millennium Ring was furious; he'd never be allowed to forget that loss. Stupid tomb keeper would be dragging it into every conversation he'd have the misfortune to overhear.  
  
This was true. Even now, gingerly massaging his spine and defiantly avoiding eye contact with Mokuba who was STILL snickering, Marik was not feeling utterly humiliated; after all, he had defeated the tomb robber in a battle of wits. It wasn't quite ruling the world, but it was a step closer.... somehow.  
  
Valuable experience; that was it.  
  
*  
  
As the taxi pulled up outside the semi-circular entrance to Observation Rise, Seto noted with slight interest from his bored stupor that a nearby hotel had a rather eye-catching dragon motif emblazoned on the front. As the CEO debated changing their hotel booking based on his fetish for dragons, the driver leapt out, eager to get rid of this troupe of weirdos as he threw back the taxi's sliding door.  
  
Mokuba fell out of the car; the combined pressure of the others leaning towards freedom and the sudden lack of supporting door resulting in the younger Kaiba landing with a smack on the tarmac; Yugi, Ryou, Joey, Tristan, Tea, Marik and their collective baggage all following Mokuba in his unintentional disembarking. The taxi driver shook his head in a combination of horror and humour - he'd need to stop off at the nearest pub before picking up any more passengers.  
  
Seto's fascination with the dragon sign was rudely interrupted by the pitiful moaning of his younger brother as he struggled to extract himself from the loudly complaining pile he had somehow become the base of. Reluctantly handing over the taxi fare, Kaiba grabbed Mokuba's arm and towed him inside the glass doors; not waiting for the others to return to their senses. With any luck, they'd end up in a different hotel.  
  
As bags were returned to their owners and the taxi tore off as fast as the heavy traffic permitted, Yugi gave a sudden yelp of horror.  
  
'My Puzzle! It's gone!'  
  
Ryou watched the taxi race off into the sunset, 'if you've left it in the taxi, we'll certainly have a job getting it back'. His comment was met with silence.  
  
Returning his gaze to his friends, Ryou was slightly confused to find that everyone was staring pointedly at him. 'Oh... just a second'. Reluctantly, Yami Bakura took control.  
  
The ex-grave robber glared back, 'what?'  
  
Yugi smiled slightly, 'you can have the Puzzle if you want. However it will mean that you would have to share Ryou's mind with Yami as well. Hey, maybe I can set an alarm clock with winding up with mild concussion and another pile of springs on the floor for once. And then there's the whole toaster incident...'  
  
The Millennium Puzzle landed with a clatter on the tarmac at Yugi's feet. Yami Bakura retreated to his Soul Room leaving Ryou. The milder hikari blinked and asked curiously, 'what on earth did you say to him? He's sitting in a corner in his Soul Room, rocking backwards and forwards muttering something about a change of plan and driving spirits out of items'.  
  
Ryou's question was left unanswered as the collective group burst out laughing, until a hotel porter came and demanded that they leave or enter the hotel, but either way would they please stop blocking the driveway.  
  
*  
  
After the initial malarky involving confirming bookings and being sent to rooms that are already occupied, trooping back to the front desk and making a huge fuss, Seto was handed a fistful of sliding room keys as the hotel manager begged them to leave them in peace. THEN started the whole malarky with sharing rooms.  
  
'I am NOT sharing a room with the Chihuahua under ANY circumstances'.  
  
'You think I WANT to share a room with you?!'  
  
'Dibs not being a room within a hundred metres of the pharaoh!'  
  
'How do you think I feel???'  
  
This delightfully civilized conversation continued in this fashion for about half an hour, until they were almost thrown out again. Yami Bakura WAS thrown out for attempting to use one of the decorative vases to bludgeon Yami; even though he'd left Ryou to the actual arguing over the room set up. This was possibly a new plan to relieve the Puzzle of its host before Yami Bakura took possession of it. Even so, it meant that Ryou would now have to scale the building to reach the balcony of his room every time he wanted back in. 'Wonderful creations, these Yamis', commented Ryou dryly 'I wonder if you can sell or trade, or better still, disown them. People must be queuing up to have them'.  
  
Tea had the best deal; a room to herself. Everyone else was shoved in the same room. Probably just as well that these rooms were more like apartments; Yugi and Ryou had the single beds in one room; Joey was on the floor in the kitchen; Seto and Mokuba had the sofas in the living area and Tristan was left with the bathtub.  
  
Marik however, was abandoned on the balcony. Honestly - you try to take over the world, manipulate the powers of the Gods and control what little there is of these people's minds and they treat you like some kind of monster. That was at LEAST a month ago; ancient history.... There was absolutely no reason for them to be so unfair in sharing out the room space. Although, on the bright side; he was in the area furthest from the pharaoh and closest to freedom.  
  
*  
  
After unpacking the bags...  
  
'YAMI BAKURA, YOU TOOK THE MILLENNIUM ROD!!!'  
  
'I did not! I was.... er... helping you unpack! Yes! You should be grateful for my help'.  
  
'Call it whatever you like, BUT GIVE ME THE DAMN ITEM BACK!'  
  
'Ungrateful little..'  
  
.. smoothing over arguments about room service  
  
'Hey who wants pizza?'  
  
'In case you've forgotten, Chihuahua, I am paying for all room service, so I recommend you leave that phone alone'.  
  
'You're paying? Oh yeah... so who wants lobster?'  
  
... and distributing door keys  
  
'I probably shouldn't have one; Yami would probably mistake it for a duel monsters card and we'd never get it off him'.  
  
'My Yami would probably try to break into other people's rooms with it'  
  
At last they had all finished setting up the room as neatly as they could - it appeared to have been recently decorated by a homicidal maniac with a chainsaw.  
  
'Spirit? Didn't I tell you NOT to bring any weapons of mass and minor destruction?!'  
  
'Yes'  
  
'DOESN'T A CHAINSAW FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY??!!'  
  
'Technically no - it's a tool used for cutting down trees. I thought it would be of some use on our trip to this possibly hostile country'.  
  
'Oh yes, I can just see it; everyone climbing out the taxi because where's a tree in the growing middle of the road.... How stupid do you think I am?!'  
  
'.... I don't think you want me to answer that'  
  
'You know what, the next person who asks to see the Ring can keep it'.  
  
Choosing to leave the room that was now looked as though it wasn't suitable for human habitation, they met up with Tea and decided to head for the first tourist attraction before the hotel staff discovered the state of the boys' room.  
  
The Royal Show  
  
*  
  
Wild-filly: that's all for now, please review and tell me what you think! Thanks go to the following people for their reviews  
  
Swishy-fiend  
  
Deliruim Dancer  
  
Random Thoughts  
  
Darkness Eternal  
  
uknowwhoiam!  
  
Tenshi  
  
MoonWraith  
  
Prantis and Yami Prantis 


	3. Chapter 3 The Royal Show Part I

Wild-filly: ^_^;; sorry about the delay, Christmas and laziness took over.... Not very unusual for me I'm afraid -_- In answer to angelus_2040's question, yes I am currently residing in Perth, Western Australia; although I am loathed to hand out my residential address, I can confirm that I do have a vague idea of what I'm talking about ^_^  
  
Kaioshin: Once again, wild-filly thanks all of her reviewers and still doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Western Australia, strangely enough  
  
Wild-filly: by the way, please note that I DO NOT go out of my way to bash ANY characters - everyone is going to have their chance at having their life ruined regardless of whether they are my most hated or favourite character ^_^  
  
*  
  
The Royal Show. An annual exclusively Australian event held in every state. Technically it was an agricultural show combined with a fairground, yet it had still won a place in the hearts of the general Australian public - as well as boasting a number of collapsible rides, there were also highly anticipated competitions for livestock of numerous varieties.  
  
Perhaps it was not on the same level as Universal Studios, Knotts Berry Farm and a myriad of other adventure theme parks offering rides intended to turn your stomach, however the Royal Show has a certain novelty value that is unbeatable.  
  
The ticket prices to enter, at least, are on a similar ground.  
  
Once again, the unruly mob was back in a taxi; a different taxi this time, as unbeknownst to them, their previous taxi driver was recovering in the local drunk tank after attempting to rid himself of the memory of his previous passengers. Much to the relief of Mokuba, still nursing the bruises of his unanticipated meeting with the driveway, this taxi did not have sliding doors. However, it was of considerably smaller dimensions than those of their last taxi, ensuring that once again, Kaiba was quite comfortable in the front seat, whilst the others were all performing a remarkable imitation of a tin of sardines.  
  
'Kaiba, since your wallet has stretched so far as to bring us halfway across the world and put us up in a decent hotel; do you think it would really break the bank to hire a taxi that can actually legally fit us all in?!'  
  
'Who asked you, Taylor?'  
  
'Just a suggestion, since we're running out of oxygen here'  
  
'In that case, keep talking'  
  
Their taxi driver, a pleasant middle-aged man, felt a chill skitter down his spine - there had recently been a rumour floating around about a group of adolescents with weird hairstyles and their equally weird affects on their last driver. This did not bode well...  
  
'Sir, where is it you wanted to go?'  
  
Mokuba's head emerged from where he was lying on the floor of the back of the taxi, pretending he didn't exist in case a police car happened to pass by and query the driver as to just why his licensed 5-seater was currently containing nine.  
  
'The Royal Show!'  
  
The driver relaxed slightly; a perfectly normal destination for this time of year. Maybe he wasn't in trouble after all.  
  
'PHARAOH! YOU ARE IN MY PERSONAL AIR-SPACE!!!!'  
  
'WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR PERSONAL AIR-SPACE?! THERE ISN'T ENOUGH AIR-SPACE IN HERE FOR ANY OF US, YOU IGNORANT TOMB KEEPER!'  
  
The driver unrelaxed. What on earth had he gotten himself into? He almost wished a nearby police officer would glance into the taxi and revoke his license. At least then he'd be free from these freaks; the two referring to each other as "pharaoh" and "tomb keeper" were grasping for each others' throats, despite the fact they were on opposite sides of the vehicle and were making themselves incredibly unpopular with the other passengers. Oh well.. if the police didn't catch on about the broken capacity-limit, then perhaps they would take interest in the attempted murder.  
  
'WOULD YOU TWO LEAVE IT BE FOR ONE MINUTE?!'  
  
'... one elephant, two elephants..'  
  
'I DIDN'T MEAN IT LITERALLY!'  
  
'Yami, no offence, but would you please go away?'  
  
Yami retreated into the Puzzle where he proceeded to sulk and attempt to kick lumps out of the giant stone tablets depicting duel monsters. Yugi resumed control and apologised for whatever the resident pharaoh had done this time. Marik smirked smugly, until Tea whacked him upside the head for causing trouble.  
  
'What do you think you're doing?' yelped Marik in surprise, shielding his head protectively and risking a glare at Tea. Tea, however, glared right back.  
  
'You started that argument, so you should apologise to Yami'.  
  
Marik's jaw dropped slightly. Apologise to the stupid pharaoh? Or his vertically-challenged hikari? She must be joking....  
  
'Let me think', the Egyptian drawled sarcastically 'how about.... no?'  
  
Tea's glare contorted to take on a more terrifying expression; a brightly innocent smile. Marik felt what little courage he had draining away - he did not like that look. It did not bode well for his near future.  
  
'You're going to rethink that lack of apology, if you value a certain item enough to not want it destroyed'.  
  
Yugi looked confused, 'but Tea, how are you going to use the Millennium Rod against Marik? Especially since he has it in his back pocket?'  
  
Tea arched one eyebrow, 'did I mention the Millennium Rod? I was referring to this...'  
  
Reaching into the depths of her forget-me-not blue handbag, Tea drew something from the soft folds of material. Marik's face paled, lavender eyes widening in horror as Tea held the object in questioning threateningly towards the relatively solid driver's armrest.  
  
'How in Ra's name did you get that? You wouldn't dare, you wouldn't...'  
  
Tea's grin widened, 'are you so sure? After all, you did control my mind for a fair amount of time AND you still haven't apologised to Yami for getting him in trouble'.  
  
Marik glared at Tea, expression filled with loathing. Having been eavesdropping on the conversation with a combination of fascination and delight, Yami regained control and adopted his most dignified yet offended pose.  
  
'I believe you have something to say? Tomb Keeper?'  
  
Joey, Tristan and Mokuba exchanged gleeful glances, as Mokuba slowly drew a camera out from his own backpack -ready to capture the humiliating scene forever. Blackmail truly was one of the greatest arts.  
  
Staring determinedly at the floor, Marik muttered something under his breath, before raising his voice sufficiently to be heard, '.. sorry'  
  
Tea's smile relaxed and she handed over the item in question, 'there... was that so very hard?'  
  
Marik didn't answer, snatching the item out of her hand and hugging it close, completely oblivious to the reels of photographs being fired off by Mokuba.  
  
The unfortunate taxi driver glanced backwards to survey his passengers; checking to see whether or not the attempted murder had been successful. He was sadly mistaken. Instead he was met with the scene of a kid with wealth of hair very much like a large black hedgehog taking photos at a furious rate of a blond teenager cradling a Gameboy protectively to his chest, whilst the rest of the passengers bar the one in the front howled with laughter.  
  
Kaiba shut his eyes, trying to zone out the sound. He could only hope that no one would recognise him, or he'd never live this trip down. He could just see the headlines; "KAIBACORP CEO ARRESTED WITH GANG OF MORONS AT AGRICULTURAL SHOW". Perfect. Just what his career needed.  
  
*  
  
Much to the driver's relief, the traffic waned and they finally reached one of the main entrance gates to the Royal Show.  
  
Kaiba forked over the fare, seemingly unaware that the driver had added a substantial additional fee for the amount of stress he had to undergo. However, it was equally likely that he was well aware of the charge increase and was willing to let it slip, since the poor guy had had no idea of just whom he was picking up in the first place.  
  
Mokuba scrambled through the ticket queue, jostling a herd of old people and several suspect grandchildren out of the way, leaving his brother to suffer the wrath of the walking sticks and shrieks about the distinct lack of manners in children these days. Yugi, Ryou, Marik, Tea, Joey and Tristan quietly pretended that they hadn't noticed the CEO's predicament and entered the grounds of this fabled event.  
  
The first thing Yugi noticed, were the snaking lines of open-air markets; brazenly offering a myriad of over-priced plastic, food, plastic pretending to be food and gaudily coloured things called "showbags". From where the duellist was standing, he could see just why the traffic had been so congested - there were hundreds of people gingerly manoeuvring their way through the stalls, entering yet another place proclaimed as sideshow alley, or splitting off into one of the many barns. Further off, Yugi could just distinguish a huge fenced-in paddock, in which there were a number of spirited horses being paraded in front of a panel of judges.  
  
From where he was pouting in the shadows of his Soul Room, Yami received this information with distinct interest. Having been pharaoh of Egypt at one point, Yami was used to travelling in style - either directing a gilded chariot or astride an incredibly expensive and flashy Egyptian Arabian mount. Perhaps his equitation skills could come in useful....  
  
Kaiba finally rejoined them, appearing exceptionally ruffled and slightly bruised where he had been poked with walking aids whilst apologising for his younger brother's disrespectful lack of respect. Glaring contemptuously at the people leaching away his money, Kaiba was about to fill the silence apart from the noise of the crowd with a particularly cutting remark; that was, of course, until he noticed Mokuba.  
  
Yes, dear little Mokuba. The darling child was proudly carrying enough candy floss to put a herd of elephants on a sugar high. Kaiba's face took on a profoundly paler hue. Despite the lack of elephants, this was exactly the effect that Mokuba on a sugar high had.  
  
'Mokuba! Take that back to wherever you found it, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT SUGAR?!'  
  
It was too late - Mokuba was beyond help and sanity.  
  
A giddy smile fixed on his candy floss-crusted face, the younger Kaiba took off into the swarming crowd, heading straight for one of the main barns containing show livestock. Kaiba dropped his metallic briefcase and bolted after him, mentally despairing over the cost of the repair bill.  
  
The rest of the group stood there in silent horror - Kaiba had let go of the briefcase. This was completely unheard of, as unnatural as Yami Bakura volunteering to join Homicidal Maniacs Anonymous in hope of becoming a nicer person. Joey's eyes lit up and he grabbed the case, throwing it open and seizing the CEO's wallet.  
  
'Let's go!'  
  
'Joey, isn't that called stealing?'  
  
'No... it's a hybrid version of both borrowing and stealing - therefore it is not completely and therefore NOT stealing'  
  
There was a slight pause as everyone tried to figure that one out.  
  
'Sounds good to me' said Tristan  
  
'How on earth did HE manage to come up with THAT?!'  
  
Yami Bakura had emerged and appeared to be in a mixture of both annoyance and surprise, alerted to the news of kleptomania and taken aback at the reasoning provided by one of the people on his "List of Unworthy Mortals that will be Killed by My Oh-So-Worthy Hand for Managing to Thwart One of My Oh-So-Wonderful-Evil-Schemes" . What disturbed the tomb robber most of all, was the fact that it made something almost resembling sense.. why hadn't HE thought of that one?  
  
This all became irrelevant to the thief in a matter of seconds though, as Joey realised this insult had been directed at him and had launched himself at Yami Bakura's throat. Startled by this sudden change in affairs, the tomb robber retreated to the relative safety of his Soul Room, leaving Ryou with a rather nasty wake-up call.  
  
'Ack... Joey.... what are you, doing?!'  
  
Joey blinked in surprise, as did Ryou, whose face was now an interesting shade of purple due to a distinct lack of oxygen.  
  
'Sorry about that Bakura, your insane side insulted me'  
  
Ryou blinked in mild confusion, 'oh well, never mind. Please don't do that again?'  
  
'Sure', Joey backed away in embarrassment. Tea cleared her throat, 'Come on, let's go do something other than try to strangle each other. It's getting more than a little repetitive'.  
  
*  
  
Mokuba was having fun. Unknown amounts of sugar were coursing through his veins and the world was suddenly a much more amusing place. Currently the slightly dazed child was navigating his way through one of the main sheep pens, on board one of the highly confused and irritated said woolly creatures. The sheep was not amused and neither was Kaiba, who was attempting and failing to wade through the woollen mass to retrieve his younger sibling.  
  
The CEO glared at the obstinate line of sheep continuing to bar his way. This was exactly the kind of glare Kaiba specialized in; designed to intimidate his opponents and make them feel lower than dirt. Sadly, it did not have the desired effect on the sheep. If anything, they were glaring back.  
  
As a rule, sheep are not aggressive creatures and will choose to run away from anything that threatens them. In this case, the sheep had been dragged out of their nice relatively green pasture in the lovely fresh air and had been dumped in a dark squashy pen with hardly any room to move. Either way, the sheep were not happy with this turn of events and now some little kid was hopping over their backs whilst laughing insanely and the other one tried to shove them out of the way. It was payback time.  
  
The woolly herd surged forward, carrying Mokuba laughing gleefully with them, straight at Kaiba. Kaiba's eyes widened in horror and he scrambled to reach the gate, however he was outran and then ran over.  
  
All in all, this did not rank among Seto's best days.  
  
Mokuba giggled insanely as his sheep joined the rest of the flock using Kaiba as a carpet  
  
'heybigbrotherwhatareyoudoingonthedirtyfloorhahait'sfunnythesheepkeeprunning overandoverandoverandoverandoverandover..'  
  
It appeared that these sheep were not particularly heavy, as with a roar of fury, Kaiba surged up from the unpleasant depths of the sawdust and lunged for his brother, sending several unsuspecting woolly mammals flying.  
  
Unfortunately Mokuba had become bored of the sheep pen and was already bounding towards the exit, haphazardly bashing into passers-by whilst singing a song about meatballs.  
  
Kaiba groaned, lurching towards the paint-peeled fence and hauling himself up and over to the other side of the pen, into the relatively safer pathway between pens. At least, this was the theory. He had not counted on becoming so disorientated that his exit had been made in order to enter a different pen - this one containing a particularly bad tempered ram. The ram snorted, shaking its impressive curved horns as the CEO growled in disgust as he landed in the feed trough.  
  
The cantankerous roaring of the ram caught Kaiba's attention as he struggled to remove himself from the mass of slushy grain. Staggering to his feet, Seto's eyes blearily reported a large woolly animal beginning to pick up speed and head in his direction.  
  
'Remind me again why holidays are relaxing?'  
  
*  
  
Yugi, Ryou, Tristan, Tea, Marik and Joey were all slowly navigating their way towards the main arena, weaving through stalls and narrowly avoiding being trampled by other visitors.  
  
Tea squinted at the information booklet, 'it say's that there's going to be some sort of horse display thing.... does anyone have a clue what dressage is?'  
  
Joey scratched his head perplexed, 'I dunno... maybe they dress the horses up in costumes or something?'  
  
Nobody seemed to have any better suggestions for the moment, so dressage it was.  
  
At last the newly-painted white fencing surrounding the arena came into plain sight and the group found a nice shady place to collapse on the grass and view the proceedings in comfort. Yugi gazed with slight interest as several glossy warmbloods emerged from the stable blocks and strode elegantly into the field. There seemed to be none of the costumes Joey had predicted, however there still existed the possibility of this being interesting.  
  
Joey however, was most disappointed, 'hey! What's with this, shouldn't they be in costumes or something? I mean, all they're doing is shuffling around in circles!'  
  
A flicker of movement caught Yugi's eye, as one of the people sitting nearby began a violent coughing fit, barely concealing the context, 'moron!' in the huge fake heaves. The young duellist regarded the group stationed next to them with a combination of surprise and amusement - there were four teenaged girls surveying the horses warming up, however what was most unusual about this fact was that they were all dressed up like pirates. The one almost choking herself in exasperation at Joey's lack of understanding was wearing a red bandana, bandolier, badly drawn scars and a red plastic sword.  
  
'Costumes? What kind of an idiot..' Her disgust was cut of abruptly by another of the girls turning around to face the offending group and her brilliantly plumed pirate hat shoved a large ostrich feather into her face. Choking on feather and receiving nothing but unsympathetic laughter from the other three similarly decked out in bandanas, plastic weaponry and that impressive hat, the other group chose to retreat to a better viewpoint.  
  
Joey blinked in confusion, 'did I say something wrong?'  
  
Tea sighed, shaking her head, 'Joey, I get the feeling you should have kept your mouth shut about things you don't understand'.  
  
Joey opened his mouth to complain, but was cut off by Yugi.  
  
'Hey, where'd Ryou go?'  
  
*  
  
Yami Bakura had become bored, quickly realising the lack of opportunity to steal anything worthwhile from the people nearby, especially with the stupid pharaoh keeping his snooty eye on him and the others accusing him of absolutely everything that went missing. Even if he was the culprit. Honestly, they never let him express himself - he truly was an unappreciated artist and master of his craft.  
  
Being such a master, Yami Bakura quietly took control of Ryou and hid behind a large stuffed teddy bear on display in one of the stalls as the other five walked on. The master of disguise and hiding. Once they had safely disappeared behind another stall, the ancient tomb robber was like a small child in a candy store. First stop, the nearest candy store..  
  
However, it would seem that he was losing his edge, as no sooner had he stuffed his face with some form of sticky toffee substance, than someone was referring to him by one of his most popular names.  
  
'Hey! Are you going to pay for that?!'  
  
His fame truly was amazing mused the spirit as he sprinted through the lumbering crowd and into one of the huge barns. After carefully concealing himself behind a stall selling pet crazy crabs, the thief turned his attentions to unsticking his mouth. Perhaps this toffee substance wasn't such a great idea after all; at this rate he would lose a tooth. Not flattering for such a dashing person as himself.  
  
Much to the Yami's relief, he was able to carefully free his precious teeth and was soon sauntering down the uniform rows. There didn't seem to be any valuable jewels or spices or anything really worth stealing. Quite disappointing really. He would have to get Ryou to suggest a trip to a jewellery store or something. The stupid tomb keeper should stand for that option at least.  
  
Then it caught his eye. The hardened criminal's chocolate brown eyes widened in shock and became watery with adoration. Freezing in his tracks, acting like a rock breaking the flow of a river the crowds drifted around him. Yet the people bustling past never broke his entranced gaze. Weaving forward as though drunk, the thief stood in front of the object of his fascination with a dazed expression.  
  
From the depths of his Soul Room, Ryou realised that all was not well with the resident tomb robber.  
  
'What've you done now?'  
  
'Can't... talk.. now'  
  
'What's wrong with you?'  
  
'...'  
  
'If you don't tell me, I'll take control again'  
  
'.... As if you could'  
  
'Fine, I will destroy your sugar stash'  
  
'Hah! As if you could ever find it....'  
  
'We share the same body you moron, I know where you hid it'  
  
'you wouldn't dare!'  
  
'No?'  
  
'fine.... see for yourself'  
  
Yami Bakura gaze Ryou control of their eyes and the hikari blinked, staring at the stall in which his peculiar other side had left them. If was plastered with occult jewellery, symbols and there, right in front of them, was an equally occult curved dagger. It was hung with beads and shiny things and intricately carved, polished to a bright silver. Yami Bakura regained control.  
  
'Isn't it beautiful?'  
  
'It's the gaudiest, most useless thing I've ever seen. Why on earth do you want it?!'  
  
'It's shiny... and sharp'  
  
'You're not spending MY holiday money buying it. Either way, they would never let it through at Customs'  
  
There was no response, only a long silence and then Ryou sensed the pounding heartbeat and heaving breaths that could only mean one thing.  
  
'WHY DID YOU STEAL THAT BLOODY PIECE OF COSTUME JEWELLERY, OR COSTUME WEAPONRY, WHATEVER IT IS?!!!'  
  
'so... pretty'  
  
Yami Bakura was extremely happy. He was easily outrunning the seven security guards, shopkeeper, three random children and fourteen adults sprinting after him. There was no chance they could catch the marvellous thief that was him. But then suddenly he was falling, flying through thin air. Had he run so fast he had left the ground completely?  
  
No. He had failed to comprehend the fact that there was a set of stairs in front of him. The proud thief king went gracefully nose-diving down the stone stairs and splattered into a stall selling dramatically over-priced bath salts.  
  
'No! Where's my knife?!'  
  
Yami Bakura scrambled around the raspberry-scented wreckage, picking through the shattered bottles and odorous crystals in his desperate search for the beautiful shiny knife, oblivious to the crowd of people swarming down on him.  
  
When the thief finally recovered the knife, he was promptly flattened by all seven of the security guards lunging and piling on top of him. Cursing in Japanese, English and in Ancient Egyptian when he exhausted all of the possibilities the other two languages offered, the snowy-haired thief was escorted out of the barn and the precious knife confiscated.  
  
Much to Ryou's relief, they were given a warning and not arrested. His Yami however, was in a huge sulk, plotting in the back of his Soul Room on how to retrieve his lovely oh-so-shiny knife. Ryou sighed patiently, walking carefully through the masses as he attempted to relocate the rest of the group. He was quite surprised they hadn't been waiting for him at the mobile police station when he got there, since they knew what his Yami was like.  
  
As the poor hikari floundered his way towards the main arena once again, he was blissfully unaware that they had been hanging around the police stall for half an hour before splitting up to look for jewellery stalls.  
  
*  
  
wild-filly: And that's Part 1 of the Royal Show experience over! I'll update with Part 2 as soon as I can ^_^  
  
Please review and thanks to everyone who has so far!  
  
(Thanks and cookies to last reviewers)  
  
MoonWraith  
  
Lightning Bolt Fox  
  
Memememememememememememememememe  
  
Saliorstarlight4  
  
TigerTerror  
  
Ani05tersrVIP 


	4. Chapter 4 The Royal Part II

Wild-filly: yes, I'm back at last.. along with another late update!  
  
Kaioshin: -_- she's just lazy  
  
Wild-filly: *glares* that's not true - I've just been working on several different original fictions AND I posted a Yu-Gi-Oh! spoof of 'The Real Slim Shady' (Feel free to read, mock and review)  
  
Kaioshin: let's quit the stalling, you're wasting the nice readers' time with your shameless self advertising  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own = don't sue  
  
***Chapter 4***  
  
'RYOU!!!! WHERE ARE YOU? Hey, that rhymes!' came the voice of Joey, jogging through the crowded alleyways , squinting into the stalls flashing past and knocking over the occasional pedestrian.  
  
Tristan gave a groan as he followed close behind. He highly doubted that Bakura was anywhere nearby, especially since the shy hikari didn't like crowds, or people pointing out that his name was very easy to rhyme with.  
  
Joey appeared to reach the same conclusion, slowing to a stop in front of a huge showbag display, staring at the plastic merchandise unseeingly. 'Do you think he may have gone into one of the animal display barns?'  
  
Tristan shrugged, 'it's worth a shot I guess, I think the map said there was a sheep, llama and alpaca barn just up ahead'.  
  
Too late they arrived to have witnessed Kaiba's trample from grace and Ryou wasn't there anyway.  
  
To be honest, Ryou was back in his Soul Room - Yami Bakura had decided that the knife incident was simply a slight slip-up on account that he hadn't been stealing much recently, and in order to reclaim his precious knife, he might as well get back into practise.  
  
Strolling contentedly down the outdoor market facilities, all sorts of jewellery from stalls and passers-by began to relocate itself into one of the thief's many pockets. Ryou had been perplexed to discover that all of his clothes had had new pockets installed virtually overnight, and somewhat amused to find his Yami pouting in his Soul Room because the sewing machine had run over one of his fingers.  
  
As much as the sadistic tomb robber loved pain, he was not so keen on having pain in the form of a running blanket stitch with glittery green thread decorating and connecting three of his fingers. Nor was he keen on the fact Ryou pointed out the thread wasn't thread at all, but in fact balding tinsel that had been stored in coils at the back of his wardrobe.  
  
How was Ryou to know that a psychotic tomb robber would go delving through his belongings in search of thread and discover tinsel instead?  
  
Either way, Yami Bakura was having a wonderful time. These people didn't seem to believe in good old-fashioned paranoia in order to remain in possession of their valuables. He was having so much success in his ventures that he was in fact becoming quite tired due to the combined weight of his new belongings. Time to take a break and maybe see if there was a convenient pawnbroker anywhere nearby.  
  
*  
  
Yugi, Tea and Marik were currently stumbling down sideshow alley, having contrived to lose Mokuba, Kaiba, Ryou/psycho tomb raider, Joey and Tristan with no effort whatsoever. They were searching for the missing cohorts, but didn't hold too much hope of finding them and were contentedly cruising their way through the sights.  
  
Tea eyed a huge construction which appeared to function in much the same way as a deformed sling shot, flinging encapsuled people into the air in a kind of reverse bungy-jump approach.  
  
'Hey Yugi, that looks pretty fun. You want to go on?'  
  
Yugi glanced up at what Tea was pointing at. And up. And up.  
  
'Uh, you're having a shot?'  
  
'Yeah, it looks cool!'  
  
Yugi just stared at the suddenly chirpy Tea in amazement. He had never seen her as a thrill ride person.  
  
'Uh, yeah, I suppose.'  
  
Marik could barely conceal a malicious snicker as he watched the duellist's face take on a profoundly greener hue as Tea bounded off to get tickets for the ride.  
  
'What's the matter, scared of heights?'  
  
Yugi turned to Marik, steeling himself. 'No, I simply don't like ground from great distances in the air. Heights don't bother me at all'.  
  
The blonde Egyptian glared irritably, but cheered up as Tea reappeared, wielding two tickets.  
  
'Come on Yugi! The capsule seats two at a time, we can go now!'  
  
'That's... great'  
  
'Don't worry Yugi, I'll get a picture from the sidelines... Maybe if the ride breaks the picture can go on your tombstone!'  
  
Tea glared at the tomb keeper now rolling on the grass, howling with laughter, 'aren't you missing any Gameboy games?'  
  
Marik's lavender eyes widened in horror, leaping up from the grass and tearing open his hieroglyphic-patterned rucksack and rummaging through its contents. He looked up to see Tea and Yugi hurrying over to where the queue had just finished and were being beckoned onboard.  
  
'YOU STOLE MY SPYRO: SEASON OF ICE GAME!!!'  
  
The ride technician took Tea's ticket and helped her buckle into the safety harness before turning to Yugi, now witnessing a slideshow of his life.  
  
'I'm sorry sir, but you're too short for this ride'  
  
The slideshow ended abruptly as Yugi's ears registered this possibility for his life not to end so soon after all.  
  
'Doesn't hair count?'  
  
The technician smiled, but shook his head. 'You'd have to be another few centimetres in order to ride safely'.  
  
To the technician's surprise, the spiky-haired kid grinned, 'hang on, my friend may want to take my place instead. I'll go get him now'.  
  
Yugi then took off, hurrying behind a line of arcade games, calling out the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle.  
  
'YU -GI-OH!'  
  
Yami blinked, momentarily disorientated by the flashing signs and huge plush animals hanging from hooks on the roofs of the stands. It was like being in some huge, futuristic abattoir.  
  
'Spirit, go over to where Tea is and do what the technician guy tells you to'  
  
'Yugi? What's happening?'  
  
'There's no time Spirit, just go over there and you'll find out'  
  
Oblivious to the danger his scheming hikari had just put his sanity in, the ancient pharaoh strode over to the strange contraption beyond the even stranger stalls full of dead, unrealistic animals.  
  
Tea waved to the dignified King of Games as he gingerly navigated his way through the uncouth masses barring his path.  
  
The technician stared in utter disbelief; this guy could pass for the shorter one's exact double. The only difference between them was stance, height and very slight hair styling arrangements. Apart from that they could be identical.  
  
'Uh, here sir. Just sit down and I'll sort out the harness'  
  
Yami cautiously sat down in the solid plastic chair, 'Tea, what is this?'  
  
Tea smiled widely, 'it's called a thrill ride, Yami. They're great fun, you'll see'.  
  
The technician then stepped backwards, sealing up the spherical cage and entering the operating booth. The ride began to shudder, releasing a pneumatic hiss. The pharaoh noted that the ground was starting to do something strange and he didn't like it.  
  
'Tea, Yugi.... COULD ONE OF YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IN RA'S NAME IS GOING ON?!'  
  
Yugi was blissfully watching the whole ride from the relative safety of his Soul Room, choosing to ignore the panicked bellowing of Yami. Of course, if the ride were to collapse around them, he would still be in trouble, but at least now he felt more relaxed.  
  
And could also use this as blackmail for Yami.  
  
Tea was so busy laughing in excitement that she didn't hear the pharaoh's panic-stricken roar, nor did she see him trying to dig his fingers deeper into the smooth interior, eyes far wider than usual.  
  
From where he was stationed in the operation booth, the technician noted with some amusement that the arrogant double of the first kid now seemed considerably less self-assured. He looked completely terrified.  
  
Finally the gears clicked back into their furthest position. The spiky- haired guy wasn't going to like this one bit. With a slightly evil smirk, the technician hit the release catch and watched as the slingshot fired into the air.  
  
From where Marik was huddled on the lawn gathering up his precious Gameboy adaptors, connector cables, trade links, screen lights, spare batteries and myriad of additional games, he could hear a frenzied scream coming from the stupid pharaoh.  
  
'HIKARI I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'  
  
*  
  
Seto Kaiba was still not having a good day. As if the sheep incident hadn't been enough, he now couldn't find his sugar-high younger brother. The situation seemed quite hopeless. He could only hope that the damage bill wouldn't be too dramatic. Or addressed to him.  
  
Kaiba sighed, burrowing his knuckles deep into his forehead, why oh why had he agreed to his ridiculous trip in the first place? Maybe the next time Mokuba appealed to the good nature of his heart he should remember this day.  
  
The CEO was just about to exit the barn stocking the sheep, llamas and alpacas, all in varying stages of sheer boredom and irritation, when he heard a shriek. There was a certain edge to the shriek that struck a chord in his mind. He knew that voice and had a feeling that whatever was making the owner of the voice shriek was worth observing.  
  
Turning towards where the sound was coming from, Kaiba was not disappointed. In fact he was nearly re-trampled by the sheep.  
  
'JOEY YOU MORON!!'  
  
'HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THAT WAS THE GATE LATCH?'  
  
"HOW ABOUT THE SIGN HANGING OFF IT SAYING "GATE LATCH - DO NOT TOUCH"?!'  
  
Joey was about to respond with his own yell, but the owner of the sheep came galloping out of nowhere, with bloodshot eyes and a pitchfork in one hand.  
  
Tristan and Joey exchanged a glance and took off, the flailing sheep breeder tearing after them, screaming obscenities and assorted curses. Kaiba permitted himself a slight chuckle. Ah... Why was he so against holidays again?  
  
*  
  
Yami Bakura was still looking for a place to sit down for a while. Everywhere he went he was encountered by worthless mortals occupying the only passable seating. Sitting on the grass was beneath such a wonderful thief as he, and besides, there was a high risk of getting trampled by a herd of tourists if you sat down ANYWHERE.  
  
The tomb robber was now desperate. At this rate he would be forced to cast off some of his hard-earned loot and he was most loathed even to contemplate this.  
  
Finally he spotted a place to sit down; it was elevated on a metal stand thing, painted garish neon colours but it was still a chair of some sort. There were even a couple of people already sitting on the chairs, chatting animatedly and generally looking like a crowd of happy dumb mortals. Maybe he could see if they had anything of value with them, but right now he just wanted to collapse and get his bearings to relocate the home of the beloved knife.  
  
Stamping up the brief flight of metal steps to where the glittery chairs were all lined up, the thief king was waylaid by a ticket collector.  
  
'Sir do you have pass for this ride?'  
  
Yami Bakura blinked, surveying the collector as though she were an abnormally stupid mortal; what on earth was a pass? Or a ride for that matter? He couldn't see any camels or horses nearby - obviously this was some maniac with no life whatsoever. The thief couldn't be too sure though, deciding to fork over a fistful of some type of currency he had pilfered from the handbag of a passing old lady.  
  
The ticket collector surveyed the heap of change, then the thief's expression. There was something about that face that reminded her of the homicidal maniac from a horror movie she watched and had nightmares about for months afterwards. Nodding and ushering the white-haired person of debatable sanity, she stepped down off the platform and signalled to the ride operator.  
  
Yami Bakura had just seated himself comfortably down on the hard plastic chair, or at least as comfortably as he could. Pensively he noted the presence of a metal loop that seemed to start at the sides of the chair and then ascend to the top beyond the headrest. Was this some form of primitive decoration? He observed similar ones on the chairs of the people sitting in front of and behind him.  
  
A red siren started to wail and flash at the operator's booth, catching the thief's attention. Suddenly the weird metal loop fell off, or at least it seemed to lose its balance. It was now quite tightly secured around his waist and no amount of pulling or thrashing could dislodge it. Ryou sensed his Yami's frantic scrabbling at the rollarcoaster's securing barrier from where he was peacefully meditating in his Soul Room.  
  
'What's wrong?'  
  
'I'm trapped! I can't get out of this chair decoration!'  
  
'It's not a chair decoration, it's a security harness'  
  
'What kind of incompetent fool would need a safety harness to remain upright in a chair?!'  
  
'It's not a chair, it's a rollarcoaster'.  
  
'A what?!'  
  
Ryou had no chance to answer, for the thief suddenly found out for himself as the "chair" took off down the track, plunging down the steep drops and whirling upside down through the tight vertical loops.  
  
The screams of terror issuing from the dauntless thief's mouth were drowned out though by the screams of pain, surprise and delight as the stash of jewellery concealed in the countless pockets in the thief's clothes were shaken out of their hiding places and onto the crowd below.  
  
Screams of terror turned to rage as Yami Bakura realised he had just lost all of his beloved thievings, however they reverted back to terror as the rollarcoaster started up the track again and then dove towards the ground at breakneck speed.  
  
In the wonderful serenity of his Soul Room, Ryou smiled as the fearless king of thieves finally disembarked from the perfectly innocent ride and made his way towards the exit in a peculiar swaying gait.  
  
'hikari, you can take over for a while'  
  
Ryou's eyes focussed on the crowd, taking in the assorted people groping around on the floor after the jewellery that had fallen from the coaster like confetti. Now would probably be a good time to leave before someone recognized a necklace that at the start of the day was around their neck but was now in the grip of a stranger.  
  
Off in the near distance, Ryou could have sworn he heard Yami's voice.... slightly high-pitched, but definitely Yugi's darker half. The hikari was somewhat perplexed as to just what had driven the pharaoh into this strange turn of events, but either way, it was time he rejoined the group and maybe had some fun himself. Not that witnessing the humiliation of the tomb robber hadn't been entertaining.  
  
*  
  
wild-filly: Royal Show Part III will be out soon, but for the moment my fingers are starting to protest and I'm now also in the mood to write something else tonight ^_^ yay! Death to writer's block at last!  
  
Kaioshin: wild-filly would now like to thank the following reviewers AND give Prantis (Darkness Eternal) and ani05tersrVIP a little light blue and red paper umbrella respectively because the title of the fic lead them into a false promise of there being rain -_-;;  
  
Yami Lover  
  
TigerTerror  
  
Saliorstarlight4  
  
Ten-kih Ho-shih  
  
Ani05tersrVIP  
  
In fact... everyone who reviews gets their own little paper umbrella in the colour of their choice ^_^ 


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